Antiquities and Other Stories

by Cynthia Ozick

From one of our most preeminent writers, a tale that captures the shifting meanings of the past and how our experience colors those meanings, now alongside four previously uncollected stories

In Antiquities , Lloyd Wilkinson Petrie, one of the seven elderly trustees of the now-defunct (for thirty-four years) Temple Academy for Boys, is preparing a memoir of his days at the school, intertwined with the troubling distractions of present events. As he navigates, with faltering recall, between the subtle anti-Semitism that pervaded the school's ethos and his fascination with his own family's heritage--in particular, his illustrious cousin, the renowned archaeologist Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie--he reconstructs the passions of a childhood encounter with the oddly named Ben-Zion Elefantin, a mystifying older pupil who claims descent from Egypt's Elephantine Island.

Included alongside this wondrous tale, touched by unsettling irony and with the elusive flavor of a Kafka parable, are four additional stories in Cynthia Ozick's brilliant, distinctive voice, weaving myth and mania, history and The Coast of New Zealand , The Bloodline of the Alkanas , Sin , and A Hebrew Sibyl .

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2022

About the author

Recipient of the first Rea Award for the Short Story (in 1976; other winners Rea honorees include Lorrie Moore, John Updike, Alice Munro), an American Academy of Arts and Letters Mildred and Harold Strauss Living Award, and the PEN/Malamud award in 2008.

Upon publication of her 1983 The Shawl, Edmund White wrote in the New York Times, "Miss Ozick strikes me as the best American writer to have emerged in recent years...Judaism has given to her what Catholicism gave to Flannery O'Connor."

Reviews

[Noam · Rating 3 out of 5]

One long and four short stories in one book. The long one, ‘Antiquities’, is the story of an elderly man who reflects upon his life, the important things and chances he may have missed. One of these is an intimate friendship he had with another boy during schooltime, a friendship which was ended abruptly. ‘Antiquities’ is about identity and longing, the pass of time and about things which only too late we understand how important they were. It’s about change too: It illustrates the strict and antisemitic life at a boarding school for boys around 1900.

The atmosphere of the story ‘The coast of New Zealand’ is much alike: A woman reflects upon a friendship from the past, a friendship between a man and three women (including herself) who studied together. Once again longing and reflecting upon the past are the main themes. I enjoyed reading both ‘Antiquities’ and ‘The coast of New Zealand’ very much.

Unfortunately, I appreciated the stories ‘The Bloodline of the Alkanas’ and ‘Sin’ much less. The ideas at the core of these stories are fascinating, but somehow each story as a whole is less convincing. I didn’t appreciate the story ‘A Hebrew Sibyl’. It was difficult for me to understand what Cynthia Ozick wants to say and such a mythological story is just not my cup of tea.

Cynthia Ozick writing style is delicate and calm, almost British. She chooses her words carefully and takes her time to draw the delicate pictures she wants us to see. Beautiful and delightful. The fact that the stories I liked most (‘Antiquities’ and ‘The coast of New Zealand’) are her latest ones, are a reason for joy: Apparently a writer can get better and better even at the age of 90+. I am looking forward to her next books!

[Courtney Ferriter · Rating 5 out of 5]

** 5 stars **

I cannot recommend Cynthia Ozick highly enough.

[Robb DeNyse · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO I read the hardcover, which was only the novella ANTIQUITIES. But then the paperback came out with four previously uncollected stories! Very tricky, Cindy!!! Bad news: I bought the paperback. Good news: It was worth it! Ozick crafts beautiful sentences. I definitely want to read more now.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

The lead novella Antiquities is joined by 4 short stories and three of them were highly enjoyable. This is a pretty high percentage for a collection. every book by Ozick that I read was really good. She is also a highly perceptive literary critic

[Katy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this in fits and starts over about a month. I thought each sentence was beautifully crafted, but I never felt it was going any place. It is a memoir of a gentleman's school days with a suggestion of a boyhood sexual encounter with another boy of a mysterious family background who disappears and a strange talisman. The school is closed and the few alums who were allowed to live there disperse when the school is finally sold. The story ends. I did not read the four accompanying short stories.

[Chris Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cynthia Ozick will not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I tend to like her austere and frigid stories. Just about everything here made an impression on me, especially the shorter stories included after the longer titular novella.

[Ilana · Rating 5 out of 5]

The novella is a masterful journey into the method and importance of memory. Who writes down history and why? Loving, thoughtful, and with great alliteration. The other stories pair well, matching in theme without repetition.

[s · Rating 4 out of 5]

really enjoyed this. been looking for an excuse to get into ozick, and i guess this is it

[Denise Goodkey · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. Gave it my best shot...read exactly half of the opening novella. It just dragged on and on, going nowhere

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really loved Antiquities, but unsure how i felt about some of the others. i think worth a re-read. first time reading Ozick and her prose is fantastically playful